


Completely BookEd

by Doctoring



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, at least the second half will be, get your shit together Kevin Barr, posted in real time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-07-07 04:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15900678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctoring/pseuds/Doctoring
Summary: Kevin visits the local bookstore an unreasonable number of times each month, and Edd's the reason why. It's worked so far since he's gotten much closer to his crush. Now if only Kevin can figure out how to go from book club buddies to boyfriends.





	1. Obsessed, Much?

**Author's Note:**

> Another completely written story. It starts with events that already occurred then goes into the current semester.  
> Therefore, once I'm done posting the background events, the rest of the chapters will be posted in real time. (Whatever day the chapter starts on is when I'm posting it.)  
> So, some chapters will be posted quickly and some might take a while.  
> Thank you for your patience :)

Kevin has a set schedule.

Classes, football practices, tutoring.

His bi-weekly Wednesday coffee dates with Nazz.

A cheap movie on a Tuesday with Nat at least once a month.

And the book store anywhere between 10 and 15 times a month.

You couldn’t tell from looking at Kevin but he’s an avid reader. It wasn’t really by choice at first. Basically, whenever he was grounded, which was a bit too often, he’d have nothing to do to entertain himself but read. As he got older, he started to read for fun outside of school assignments and being bored while grounded. By the time he was in high school, the script was flipped. Whenever he got in trouble, he’d had to hand over his library card, stay home during book drops, or be all antsy when a new book that he ordered finally arrived, but he wasn’t allowed to read it for however many days his mother saw fit. Essentially, he’d be grounded from books.

But Kevin doesn’t go to the local book store this frequently just because of his love for books. If that was the case he’d only go for the book clubs of interest and maybe just peruse new releases once or twice a month. He has another completely different reason for his frequent visits. An adorable, intelligent, friendly, lithe, fair-skinned, beanie-wearing, and gap-toothed reason.

. . . . . . . . . .

It all started out back when Kevin and Nazz had their coffee and homework dates on Tuesdays, the fall semester of their sophomore year. They went to the coffeeshop on campus or to the local chain coffeeshop at the time. But Nazz had seen someone’s post on social media about a coffeeshop with an outdoor seating area, and Nazz needed to go there. NOW. She wanted to sip her latte and complain to Kevin about her biology professor while under the shade of a giant maple tree.

Kevin obliged, thinking the view wasn’t that serious, until he saw him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of him. This isn’t a figure of speech. Nazz had to reach over the table, grab Kevin’s head between her hands, and forcibly make him turn back towards her.

“Dude, are that that zoned out? Cause otherwise you’re entering into extreme creeper territory.”

“Yeah, yeah… sorry, it’s just… that’s him, Nazz.”

“Him?” Nazz asked, glancing back at the target of Kevin’s creeper stare.

“Yeah. Him. From last semester. The group project. Wh-”

“OH, HIM!?”

Kevin quickly hushed her but could tell that the guy he had been staring at had glanced up in their direction. “Yeah… him…”

Nazz lowered her voice and leaned in closer. “Are you gonna go talk to him?” she asked, grinning.

“Nazz. C’mon now.”

“No, you come on. Go say something!”

“What am I supposed to say!? Hey? That was sure some group project? Have you done any other group projects since then? By the way, care to make out?”

“Uh… yeah… that’s kinda lame.”

“Exactly. I have no idea what we could talk about since we don’t have a common ground anymore.”

And that was the end of their discussion on “group-project-guy” (since Kevin refused to divulge his name to prevent Nazz from social media stalking him).

Later, Nazz received a text from Marie and had to dip out early. Kevin said he was going to stay and continue to work on his statistics homework. Nazz gave him a knowing look and mumbled something about “staring is not homework” as she walked off.

Kevin actually did do his statistics homework after Nazz left, mainly since his motivation was sneaking a glance at his crush after each completed problem. After his last problem, Kevin looked up to sneak another glance, only to be startled.

“Oh my,” Edd said, taking a step back from the table. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I-”

“It’s okay, Edd. I just wasn’t expecting you… How’ve you been?”

“Pleasant, and you?”

“Same. You got anywhere to be right now?”

“No, not really.”

“Cool… Care to join me?”

“Certainly!” Edd looks back and forth between Kevin’s table and the empty table next to them. He then points to the empty table and says, “Should I pull up another chair?”

“What do ya mean?”

Edd paused for a moment before gesturing to the chair across the table from Kevin and asked, “Is your girlfriend returning or can I sit here?”

Kevin faltered for a moment. “No. No No N-I mean… yes… like, yes, you can sit there, and no, she isn’t my girlfriend.”

Edd giggled as he took a seat.

“In fact, she just dipped out not too long ago to go see _her_ girlfriend, so yeah… Anyways, I know we’ve only been in school for like a week and two days, but how have classes been?”

They continued their small talk about classes, Kevin’s practices, and Edd’s job down in the chemistry lab. Finally, Kevin asked Edd about how much he frequents this coffeeshop. Edd explained that it was his first time here, but he’s seen the view from his usual location and was curious about it. When Kevin asked him about this “usual location,” Edd pointed to the terrace of a building on the other side of the outdoor space. Apparently that terrace was part of an old split-leveled home turned bookstore, and the terrace was used for book clubs when the weather was nice.

Kevin now had a million questions for Edd about the book store and these book clubs he’s a part of but was prevented in asking any of them due to his alarm going off. He was still off campus and he had only 20 minutes to go to his dorm, get his stuff for his next class, and then _run_ to class. He rushed out a quick apology to Edd and promised to text him later.


	2. Bookstore Guy

By the end of that fall semester, Kevin would meet up with Edd at least 3 times a month. They attended Graphic Novel Book Club and Banned Books Book Club together. Since Kevin read most of the banned books back in high school, he didn’t feel the need to read them again for book club. This gave him more time to read what he wanted, which is where their third visit would come from. Kevin would drag Edd to the book store and make him help pick out a new book to read. Because of all their book-related hangouts, Nazz now called “group-project-guy,” “bookstore-guy.” Even Kevin’s other best friend, Nat, knew that Kevin was a little too excited about these book clubs he goes to, even though Kevin hadn’t explicitly told him why, or anything at all about Edd for that matter.

. . . . . . . . . .

This all changed spring semester when Edd and Kevin started borrowing books from each other, then meeting up for lunch or dinner to discuss the books. They soon started meeting up for lunch or dinner with no talk of books at all.

The new addition of Movie Night Book Club, where they screen the film a week after they discuss the book, also helped Kevin spend more time with Double D. But it also caused a bit of a rift when Nat showed up to one of the movie screenings, and proceeded to flirt nonstop with Edd.

Spring football practice was tense the next day, and Kevin and Nat ended up fighting immediately afterward. Yes, Nat flirted with the guy Kevin had been crushing on for over a year. However, Nat wasn’t being malicious. He just didn’t know about the crush or anything else about the situation since Kevin decided to be secretive about all things Edd. The fight ended with Kevin admitting that he should have trusted Nat more and agreeing to filling him in about the situation. Within minutes, Nat was literally laying on his stomach on the floor with a bag of popcorn as his listened to Kevin’s story of Edd.

From there on out, Nat cheered Kevin on. Well, more like complained that Kevin wasn’t making any moves, but that’s close enough.

. . . . . . . . . .

In April, Edd went to Kevin’s dorm for the very first time. They were supposed to be watching a movie Kevin rented, but were interrupted by Edd’s phone going off multiple times. Each time, Edd would look at who was calling and would either look upset or quite irate. Kevin asked a few times if Edd needed to take the call. However, after the last call, where Edd groaned aloud, Kevin paused the movie.

“Dude. It’s fine. Take the call if you need to.”

“I don’t need to. Really. And I’m really sorry about-”

“Don’t apologize. I’m just worried about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“C’mon now. You’re obviously upset about something and it’s just getting worse with each call…”

Edd just looked at his hands folded in his lap.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Kevin waited a moment. He slowly reached for the remote, thinking Edd didn’t want to talk, when Edd suddenly snapped his head towards Kevin.

“It’s Eddy. He’s being quite bothersome.”

“Well, yeah, with the number of calls you just missed… but who’s Eddy?”

Edd looked back down into his lap and took a deep breath before he continued. “Eddy’s… my ex… During spring break, I went home, but just before I left campus he contacted me and asked if we could meet up. I didn’t think anything of it, believing it wouldn’t be too awful to meet him, since we were childhood friends for the longest time, and we broke up quite some time ago.”

“But it was awful after all?”

Edd nodded fervently and looked back up at Kevin. “Oh, most definitely. I was _sorely_ mistaken. It was so awkward and uncomfortable. You can’t imagine how glad I was to go home that day. But apparently, he wasn’t satisfied so he… I don’t know how… It was completely asinine… the short version is that he used to pull these stupid stunts all the time, and I guess he didn’t really outgrow that… he did something _so ridiculous_ and _so dangerous_ , and a mutual friend, Ed, got injured in the process.”

“Wait… sorry to interrupt, but Eddy? And now there’s an Ed? You three all have the same-”

“Yes, yes. I know. Let’s not talk about that now.”

Kevin laughed. “Fair. So, it was awkward meeting up with him and then he hurt your friend somehow…” Kevin gestured for him to continue as he scooted closer to him.

“Yes, AND HE BLAMED ME FOR IT! He caused Ed to get hurt but he thinks it’s my fault since he was trying to get my attention or impress me or whatever!” Edd threw his hands up into the air and slumped in his seat. He then sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “What hurts the most is that a few of those calls were from Ed. He’s probably just trying to reach out since we haven’t talked much since. We actually missed our last two skype sessions, including last night. But I’m too afraid to answer. Eddy’s been calling a lot just now, at the same time Ed’s been calling. How am I supposed to know if it’s really Ed calling me or if Eddy’s just using his phone and being manipulative again?”

“So, you don’t want to risk it?”

Edd shook his head. “I can’t. I am NOT in the mood to deal with Eddy. Not now, not ever.”

“I get it dude. Sorry you’re putting up with such BS.”

“It’s life. Gotta take the bad with the good, I suppose… speaking of which, want to get back to the movie?”

Kevin dramatically placed a hand over his chest while looking taken aback. “Well, I don’t know now. If watching this movie with me is ‘taking the bad’ then-”

Edd swatted at him. “Don’t even! You know what I meant! You’re acting like Nathan!”

Kevin laughed. “Harsh, dude.” He started the movie again but had a hard time focusing on it. He felt bad for Edd for having to go through all this, but at the same time, he was ecstatic. _He’s single and he’s interested in men! Fuck this Eddy kid for hurting Double D like this, but as soon as he’s in a better mood, I’m making my move…_

Kevin didn’t make his move. Between final projects and papers, the football practices and conditioning, and Edd presenting at a conference out of state, they hardly saw each other before the semester ended.


	3. Summer and 21st

Kevin spent his summer taking his last foreign language class, going to practice, working at the school’s gym, reading, and wishing that he could talk to Edd in person about the books instead of through text.

By the time July hit, the texts got more flirtatious, but Edd usually deflected them or ignored them.

Two weeks before school started, Kevin and Nat moved into an apartment together. They had both just finished moving everything upstairs when Kevin’s phone chimed. Kevin was sore and sweaty and couldn’t be bothered, but Nat was nosey enough to grab the phone from the kitchen counter just to see who it was from.

“Dude. I thought you said Double Dreamy wasn’t flirting with you.”

“Yeah, he’s not. Maybe he-”

“You’re such a liar, Kevin! He just fucking called you handsome!”

Kevin gave himself the biggest bruise on his knee when he ran into the coffee table while trying to bolt for the kitchen. He quickly snatched his phone from Nat and unlocked it.

 _Edd:_ Oh. I was thinking he was more like you, because of how he was described as handsome with a strong jaw and whatnot.

Kevin sighed. “Man, he’s just arguing with me about a character from a book we’ve read.”

“No. He’s flirting. In his own book-nerd way.”

Kevin rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone.

After he had unpacked most of his boxes and showered, he laid in bed and thought about what Nat had said. He scrolled through their previous messages and realized that Nat might just be right. Apparently for the past few conversations, Edd would compliment Kevin somehow, but it would always be buried in their book discussions.

Kevin couldn’t wait for Edd to come back to the dorms next week.

. . . . . . . . . .

Once Edd did move back on campus, they still didn’t have time for each other. Edd had gotten a job at the bookstore and had to spend that week training. Between Edd’s bizarre training schedule and Kevin’s football practices, they didn’t see each other until the second Wednesday after school started.

Kevin was meeting Nazz at the coffee shop for their newly scheduled bi-weekly coffee dates, when he noticed a familiar face in the window of the bookstore. He quickly left the coffeeshop, ran around the block, and entered the bookstore. He looked everywhere and eventually found Edd back towards the front of the store, adjusting the sign advertising all their new book clubs starting this semester.

“Hey, Edd!”

“Hello, Kevin! What are you here for?”

 _You._ “I uh… I was just going to look at these book clubs…” Kevin said, turning to stand in front of the full book club schedule, and taking his phone out to take a picture of it.

This prompted Edd to go down the entire list, giving a short spiel about each one. Kevin took a special note of the sci-fi book club and the fantasy book club. Not because he was interested in those genres, but because Edd made a comment that he works during those books clubs. At the end of Edd’s spiels, he asked, “Are you going to the YA book club next weekend?”

Kevin looked at the book they’ll be discussing and started nodding, then slowly stopped with a look of terror on his face. “Dude. I can’t.”

“Oh? Football?”

“Nah… it’s just that I’m celebrating my 21st birthday that day. We’re going into the city to see what kinds of trouble we can get into, maybe go see a local show that night.”

“That sounds like fun!”

“It should be. And I’d really like it if you would come, too.”

Now it was Edd’s turn to deflate. “I would love to but I’m working that night. But I will definitely find some other way to celebrate your birthday with you!”

Luckily for Kevin, his phone chimed just then, preventing him from making some lewd comment about how Edd can help him celebrate his birthday. He opened his phone and saw a message from Nazz, asking him about his whereabouts.

“I gotta go, but I’ll text ya later.”

“Please do,” Edd replied with a smile that pained Kevin.

So, Kevin made it a point to send a text checking in on Edd very frequently during the next two weeks.

. . . . . . . . . .

The weekend after Kevin’s birthday shindig in the city (which involved Kevin being distracted and texting Edd way too much), Nat claimed he had an even better birthday celebration planned for Kevin. Kevin was skeptical at first, until Nat drove them to the local bookstore, then he was terrified.

“How is this a birthday celebration? Are you going to force me to make a move on Edd with you here?”

“That’s a great ideal! Too bad it’s not what I had planned.”

“Then what is it?” Kevin said with panic edging his voice.

Nat let out a loud laugh. “You’ll see. Just follow me.”

Nat led Kevin inside, and upstairs to the terrace. It was there that Kevin remembered that there’s a book club called Books and Brews, where a bunch of guys discuss a book they all read while also trying different craft beers. “Figured you’d be into the typical 21st drunken celebration if it also involved books… and maybe the fact that Edd told me yesterday that he’s working tonight…”

Kevin whipped his head around to Nat and had the same expression of glee as a child on Christmas morning. Nat knew he won best birthday present with that last bit.

They got there just in time to realized that neither of them had read the book, but too late to dip out, especially since everyone else insisted they stay at least for the beers. Kevin had a good time hearing about this book and trying samples from the local brewery, but he kept his eyes on the door to the terrace. Nat realized this and finally piped up about it, to the whole group.

“So, can anyone just pop into one of these meetings? Like the other people working too?”

Kevin wanted to murder Nat, but only after he hears the answer first.

The other bookstore employee, Daniel, who was moderating the talk, nodded. “Sure, it’s an open group, as long as you can legally drink, but I don’t think the other two people working tonight are coming up.”

“Why’s that?” Both Nat and Kevin asked.

“Well, it’s not a guys only group, but it typically only has guys, so Emma probably won’t swing by for that reason. And as for Edd, he’s not 21 yet.”

The conversation changed after that, with one guy asking too many questions about Emma, _which is probably why she won’t come up here, douchebag. She’s avoiding all you creeps._

During this side conversation, Nat leaned over and whispered, “You’re totally gonna go see him after t-”

“Hell yes I am,” Kevin cut him off with a fervent nod.

As soon as the book club meeting ended, Kevin rushed downstairs and began looking for Edd. He was only halfway through his usual route through the house when he heard someone, probably Emma, say something that caught his attention.

“Hey Daniel! Before Edd left, he said something about switching shifts with you? I honestly don’t remember so you’ll need to contact him.”

 _Before Edd left… damn…_ Kevin pulls out his phone and asks Edd if he’s working tomorrow. He gets a reply before he can even pocket his phone again.

 _Edd_ : Yes.

 _Edd_ : Sundays are slow apparently, so you should stop by if you have time.

 _Kevin_ : I’ll be there!

You didn’t have to tell Kevin twice.


	4. Same Sentiment

The next day, Kevin left for the bookstore as soon as they opened. He immediately found Edd restocking the graphic novels, since they got a new shelving unit yesterday. Edd saw him in the doorway and waved.

“Sorry you couldn’t come to Books and Brews yesterday, but maybe spring semester, right?” Kevin said as he made his way closer.

Edd paused a moment, “Oh, it’s okay. And honestly, I still wouldn’t go if I was of age…”

“Oh? Not interested in drinking or something?”

“It’s not so much that, though it’s true, but I would just feel out of place. I can go out with friends who drink and they’re understanding of my choices, but to go to something like this and not drink is a little awkward. It’s like a wine-hater going to a wine tasting.”

Kevin laughed. “That makes sense. At least we got all those other book clubs we can go to together.”

Edd looked up from where he was kneeling, putting up graphic novels on the bottom shelf, and grinned widely. “Indeed!”

“So, besides the obvious age restriction, Daniel said something about it being guys only, though that wasn’t intended…”

Edd nodded. “Yeah, apparently that happened on its own. Just like the Poetry and Wine book club is always only females. But we do have a few clubs that do have certain restrictions in place. There is a book club for younger girls only, then some for certain age groups, like children or the elderly. We even have an LGBT book club, but it’s a closed group because it’s supposed to be like a safe space. Oh!” Edd suddenly stood up with an armful of Dark Horse graphic novels, facing Kevin, “I know you can’t go to that one… but you should tell Nazz about it! I can get her more information if she is interested in it.”

“Edd. Wait. What do you mean I can’t go?”

“Well… it’s a _closed_ LGBT group…”

_Wow. He must have thought all those times I’ve flirted with him was me just being overly friendly. No wonder his responses have been all over the place. I wasn’t being nice. Nah. I was flirting. And obviously failing._

“Edd. I’m gay.”

Edd froze in place for a moment, before dropping all the books on the floor between them. Edd scrambled to pick them up when a voice from the front of the store said, “I don’t know who that was, but you’d better not have dented those books!”

Kevin knelt down and helped Edd pick up the books, picking at the corner of one of them trying to get the ding out of the edge of the spine.

Afterwards, Kevin changed the conversation to graphic novels they wish the book club would read, and then discussions about their classes so far. It became idle chatter, but Kevin couldn’t help but feel that Edd was a blushing, fumbling mess. It only became worse when Kevin put his hand on Edd’s back as he climbed up a small step ladder to restock the upper shelves. He’s done this numerous times before, since that shaky step ladder always gave him the worst visions of Edd falling down and getting hurt. But this time was different. Edd was deeply flushed and almost dropped the books twice. And when he started to descend the step ladder, his usual “thanks” was stuttered out.

Later at home, Kevin was sitting on the couch, deep in thought about his interactions with Edd that afternoon. Nat didn’t like how Kevin was zoned out and didn’t even acknowledge his “Honey, I’m home!” so he decided to make sure Kevin knew his roommate had returned. Nat flung himself onto the couch and across Kevin’s lap.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Nat said, while slapping away Kevin’s arms so he wouldn’t be pushed off the couch. With his free hand, he then fished through his pockets and pulled out a nickel. He slapped it down on the coffee table and said, “I expect change back, unless your thoughts are of the scandalous kind.”

Kevin stopped trying to shove him off the couch. “They’re not scandalous but they are about Edd.”

Nat immediately sat up and shouted, “KEEP THE CHANGE! NOW TELL ME!”

Kevin snorted out a laugh and told Nat a condensed version of what had happened at the bookstore earlier that day. Nat was surprisingly quiet the whole time, but it was quite obvious that he was struggling to hear the whole story with the way he was rocking back and forth, clutching the couch cushion, and biting his bottom lip.

Finally, when Kevin finished, he raised an eyebrow at Nat who appeared to be falling apart at the seams. Nat took that facial gesture as a sign to finally pounce. He grabbed Kevin and started dragging him off the couch. Kevin had to basically wrestle him off but didn’t manage to do so until they were within feet of the front door.

“Dude! What the actual hell?”

“You need to go NOW! GO CONFESS YOUR UNDYING LOVE! NOW!” Nat started shoving him towards the door again.

While Kevin fought him off, he shouted, “DUDE! STOP OR WE’LL GET ANOTHER NOISE COMPLAINT!”

Nat stopped shoving and place a hand over his heart. “You can’t stop true love, Kevy. No matter how loud it gets.”

Kevin just rolled his eyes and returned to the couch. “So, I take it you think he’s into me? Maybe?”

“Not maybe… definitely! It was scientifically proven!”

Kevin looked at him confused for a moment before he finally caught on. “Dude. That wasn’t science. That was just me worried he’s going to break his neck on that thing one day.”

“It was a social SCIENCE experiment and it proves that you make him weak in the knees.”

Kevin couldn’t help his grin. “Yeah. I was hoping that was the cause of his odd behavior.”

Nat plopped back down on the couch. “So, you gonna actually do something about it this semester?”

“Of course! At this point, there’s nothing stopping me but finding a good moment of his time.”


	5. Rainy Rescue

Over the next several weeks, Edd hasn’t been able to hang out with Kevin like he used to. This has lead to the 10-15 bookstore visits pers month. Kevin goes to a few book clubs, all but one he shares with Edd. For the Books and Brews Book Club, he arrives early in the hopes of chatting with Edd. On Wednesdays, he always goes to the coffeeshop, regardless if he’s meeting with Nazz or not, and sticks around long enough to swing by the bookstore at 5, when Edd starts his shift, but before the evening rush starts. Then he swings by the store several other days in the hopes of stealing a few moments of Edd’s time while also being careful not to disturb his work. However, all this leads to only a few minutes of time pseudo-alone with Edd. Kevin’s starting to worry that since he’s made zero progress in so long, that he might have actually lost progress.

But he continues to try to see Edd at work as much as possible, to send texts to check on him on the days he can’t go or Edd isn’t working there, and to continue inviting Edd out to lunch as much as possible. A few plans were made but they always had to get cancelled.

This continued until one Saturday night in the middle of October. Kevin was icing his knee from the football game earlier that day, when Edd called.

Kevin hastily swiped the phone open and said, “What’s up?”

“Hello, Kevin. I was wondering if I could bother you for a huge, huge favor.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“I need a ride home after work tonight. I rode to work with Daniel but he got quite sick and got sent home early, and there’s a storm and, oh dear, I just remembered that you have that motorcycle and-”

“Dude. I got ya. I’ll just ask to borrow Nat’s car or get him to drive ya home. Whichever. So, when does your shift end?”

Kevin was there 10 minutes before his shift ended, waiting outside the bookstore with an umbrella. He beamed as soon as he saw Edd walk out the front of the store, but then immediately started frowning. Edd looked like he should have been the one to go home due to sickness. He looked so pale and on the verge of passing out. He was moving quite slow and even his smile upon seeing Kevin seemed to be too much effort to bear. It was enough to make Kevin hesitate before he walked Edd to the passenger side of the car. Part of him wanted to just scoop up Edd into his arms and carry him to the car, to prevent him from exerting anymore energy.

As soon as they got into the vehicle, Kevin asked Edd about it as gently as he could. Edd explained that he took an extra class this semester, and that he’s still working in the chemistry lab as well as the bookstore.

He goes on to explain that he knows he’s probably doing the most, but he needs the extra money because applying to grad school is more expensive than he realized. He has to take the GRE exam and other specialized entrance exams this year, and then next year he has all those application fees, transcript delivery fees, and even all the postage to mail off the applications and essays.

At a stop light, Kevin commiserates since he recently picked up someone’s shift at the gym in order to buy GRE study materials. Edd smiles a little at Kevin’s sympathetic gaze.

Though Edd looks the most tired he’s even seen him, Kevin can’t help but smile back. The water on the windshield is distorting the red light from the stop light, causing the most unusual patterns to fall across Edd’s face. _Any other time I would think this just looks weird, but he kinda looks more handsome right now. Like the light is emphasizing his face. The red is making him look like he’s blushing, it’s adorable… and now the green is actually complementing the blue of his eyes… wait, green?_

It took about another two seconds for it to register that the light had changed, and Kevin can continue to take Edd home. _Shit, I must be tired too._

They arrived outside Edd’s dorm and Kevin walks Edd up to the entrance.

“Dude. Please get some rest tonight. I know you’re worried about making good grad school applications and being able to afford it all, but you can’t do either if you end up in the hospital due to exhaustion.”

Edd stared at him blankly before nodding. “I suppose you are right. I need to get some rest.”

“Please do. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Edd nodded and thank Kevin for the ride before heading into his dorm.

Kevin sent a text the next morning to check on Edd, and felt relieved when Edd took a few hours to reply because he was sleeping in. _At least he’s finally getting some rest._


	6. Decompress

The third Monday in October, Edd calls Kevin and apologizes ahead of time for not going to Banned Books Book Club. He’s completely burned out and he has no energy to go there tonight. He’s thinking he might drop that one altogether and maybe even the Graphic Novel Book Club. Kevin and Edd discuss it some more before Edd apologizes again for not going to book club that night. Kevin lets him know that he wasn’t excited to go anyways because he read the book in high school and disliked it.

“Oh, but you were still going to go?”

“Yeah, mainly because you were going, but… hey! We’re both free now! You should come hang out.”

“I’d love to, but I’m so worn out. I just want to have dinner and then relax. And I’m not even sure I can handle the dinner part right now.”

“Okay… how about I pick you up and make you dinner and you can relax over here.”

“I don’t want to impose though. You-”

“Stop right there. It’s not imposing and I’m completely free tonight. That’s why I’m offering here. So, do you wanna come over and chill and get a free meal?”

There was a moment’s pause until Edd finally says, “I can be ready in ten minutes.”

Kevin goes and picks Edd up, trying his hardest not to be too enthusiastic when Edd was obviously so worn out. As he makes them a pasta dish for dinner, they talk about how much they hated the book they were supposed to be discussing at book club that night.

After dinner, Edd seems to regain some energy and strength again, but this doesn’t last long. They made it through half of _Deadpool_ before Edd started nodding off. However, Edd doesn’t actually fall asleep because of Nat’s loud entrance home, involving him ranting as soon as the door was opened.

“Kevin! You would not believe the stupid shit Nazz just did. Completely fucking stupid. I don’t even want to talk to her right now ‘cause I might just catch her stupid. It’s just-”

Nat cuts himself off as soon as he enters the living space and sees Edd curled up on the couch next to Kevin. He freezes in place and goes bug-eyed before he starts grinning wickedly. Nat then says, “I’ll tell you later. Just remembered something I forgot to do. See ya, Kevin, Double Delight.”

He nods at them as he turns to leave, pulling out his cell phone. Kevin hears him just before he shuts the door, saying, “Nazz, I’m coming back over, we got a Code Pink… what do you mean you don’t know what ‘Code Pink’ means!?”

Kevin shakes his head. _Dumbass. Guess he got over his fear of catching Nazz’s “stupid” real fast. And what the fuck is a ‘Code Pink’ anyways?_

Kevin and Edd manage to finish _Deadpool_ , but as soon as the credits started rolling, Edd admits defeat. He says it was good for him to decompress from all the stress like this, but now he needs sleep.

Kevin drives him home, but when he stops outside the dorm, Edd keeps his arms around Kevin’s waist. Kevin turns off his motorcycle and removes his helmet, turning his head towards Edd. “Dude. Everything okay?”

“I just don’t know how I’m going to make it through the rest of the semester like this,” Edd says sheepishly as he slowly pulls away from Kevin.

“I understand. And if you have to drop a few things, like books clubs or even the book store job, it’s okay. It’s better than spreading yourself too thin and not accomplishing anything at all.”

“I know, I know… I just…” Edd pauses to remove his helmet. “It’s like I don’t know what to do with my time besides just all work, all the time… Maximum effort.”

Kevin snorted out a laugh at the _Deadpool_ reference, and Edd grins slightly as he slides off the bike.

“I feel like I just overdid it. I need a change of pace every now and again to reset. Like a break so I can refresh enough to get back to work properly instead of just trudging through it like I have been for a while.”

“Exactly. So, if you ever want to come over and decompress, feel free. I’ll even come pick you up.”

“I don’t want to be a bother though.”

“You won’t be. Trust me. Besides, I think a change of environment might help you as well.”

Edd thinks about it for a second before nodding. “I agree,” Edd said, eyes struggling to stay opened. “Thanks again for allowing me to do that tonight.”

Kevin gives Edd a concerned look before suddenly getting off the bike and pulling Edd into a hug. Edd slowly places his arms around him. Kevin starts to pull back after a few seconds but then he feels Edd bury his face into his neck while gripping his shirt. Kevin holds him for a little while longer, begging his heart to chill out and not make things so obvious. He finally replies to Edd, whispering, “It was no problem at all. Come over anytime. You’re always welcomed.”

Kevin pulls back but keeps his hands on Edd’s waist. “Now get inside and get in bed. Text me when you do ‘cause you legitimately look like you’re about to fall over and just sleep on the sidewalk right now.”

Edd giggled and said, “Yes, _mother_ , I will.”

Kevin rolls his eyes as Edd takes a few steps back from him. “Pleasant dreams, Kevin,” Edd murmured before turning towards his dorm.

 _If they’re of you, they will be pleasant_. “Goodnight, Edd.”


	7. Accidental Sleepover

Edd comes over that Saturday, a few hours after Kevin gets back from their football game.

Kevin and Nat are a little bummed since it was homecoming and they lost, and then Nat proceeded to get them kicked out of the house party they went to afterwards. Edd was also upset because of something that happened at work earlier that he refused to talk about. As they were moping around, Nat made some smart-mouthed comment about being together in misery, which somehow made them laugh and eventually cheer up a little.

Their evening of moping soon turned into watching the second _Deadpool_ movie and eating too much pizza and wings. As soon as the movie was over, Nat reminded Kevin about Edd’s question at the beginning of the film, regarding what happened to Wolverine.

“Wait, Edd, have you not seen _Logan_?”

“ _Logan_? No, I don’t think I have. What is that a-”

“INJUSTICE!” Nat shouted, while walking over to his DVD tower. “We must remedy this immediately!”

“What is going on!?” Edd asked.

“Like Nat said, we’re remedying this injustice,” Kevin said with a grin.

About an hour and a half after starting _Logan_ , Kevin noticed that Edd had fallen asleep. He took this opportunity to pull him closer to himself. Well, he tried to at least. It was hard to do with just one hand since he was using the other one to flip off a smirking Nat.

After the movie, Kevin slowly got up while gently helping Edd lay down fully on the couch without waking up. He walked into his room with Nat close on his heels. Nat carefully closed Kevin’s door behind him, trying to minimize the sound of it shutting. He turned around sharply and hissed out, “The fuck you doing!? What the hell was that about!?”

“Like I fucking know!”

Nat snickered. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Kevin threw up his arms and plopped down on his bed. “I don’t fucking know man.” He laid down on his bed and threw an arm over his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Are you going to ask him out or nah?”

“Huh?” Kevin removed his arm from his face and sat up suddenly. “Ask him out?” Nat nodded eagerly. “Of course, I am! I meant I don’t know what I’m going to do about him falling asleep on the couch.”

“Oh!” Nat said surprised. “You _are_ going to ask him out?” He sat on the floor and looked up at Kevin eagerly, with his head propped up on his fist.

“Yeah. Was going to do it tonight but he’s not exactly awake enough to respond. But that’s a problem for later. Right now… I gotta figure out what to do about him falling asleep here.”

“Well… I think I may have an idea.” Nat impatiently waited for Kevin to gesture for him to keep talking. “SO! Why don’t you wake him up, drive him home, and ask him out then? TWO BIRDS, ONE STONE!”

“Hush!” Kevin hissed out. “I swear your loud ass is gonna end up waking him up.”

“But isn’t that what you want? Him awake and able to respond to certain questions?”

“I don’t know, man. I kinda don’t want to wake him. I know he’s been super stressed and tired lately. I kinda just want to let him sleep while he can... Don’t fucking look at me like that.”

Nat let out a quiet squeal before saying, “But that’s so fucking cute!”

“Fuck off, Nat.”

“So… you’re going to just let him sleep there?”

“Guess I have to. I got an extra pillow, but I don’t have a blanket.”

“I got one!”

“Choice… hopefully he doesn’t wake up and freak out tomorrow, you know, when he doesn’t recognize his surroundings and whatnot.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Nat said, while standing up, going to go get the blanket.

Kevin stands and pops his back. He freezes for a moment before stopping Nat at the door. “Hey. Do you think the couch will be comfortable?”

Nat shrugs. “Why do you ask?”

“I napped there the other day and my back got stiff.”

“Well, if you’re worried about him getting proper back support…” Nat gestures to Kevin’s bed and waggles his eyebrows.

Kevin stares at him blankly for a moment before saying, “Just go get the fucking blanket, Nat.”

After they gathered all the bedding, Kevin goes and makes Edd more comfortable on the couch, while trying his damnedest to ignore Nat’s dumb comments.


	8. Breakfast a la Nat

The next morning, Edd startles awake when he hears a loud **_CLANK_**. He looks around, a bit confused by his surroundings, until he notices Nat and Kevin in their kitchen, attempting to make breakfast, and arguing in sharp, hushed voices.

“Um… Good Morning, Kevin, Nathan.”

Both boys jerked their head towards the source of the voice in the living room and Nat visibly relaxes. “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake! Now I don’t have to hold back.”

“What do-”

Edd got his answer before he could even ask his question. Nat put a second frying pan down on the stove, making the same loud **_CLANK_** sound as earlier. He then proceeded to start singing loudly as he placed what appeared to be bacon into a frying pan.

Kevin just sighed heavily and walked over towards Edd. He sat on the edge of the coffee table, bumping his knees against Edd’s, who was trying to sit up.

“Sleep alright, man?”

“Yes, I did. I’m so sorry for falling asleep here.”

“Dude. Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…” Edd looked at Kevin for a moment until Nat tried and fail to hit the same register as Whitney Houston. “Um, Kevin? Is this typical of Nathan?”

“Yeah, when he’s drunk.”

“Drunk? But it’s…” Edd checked his watch. “It’s 8 am!”

“Yeah. I know. Apparently, he stayed up all night gaming and drinking to see how long he can make it. I heard him rummaging in the kitchen a few minutes ago and came in to try to stop him. But it’s hard to come between drunk Nat and his breakfast food, especially when you have to be quiet about it.”

“Sorry you had to stay quiet in your own home,” said Edd, looking embarrassed when his sentence was punctuated by his growling stomach.

“You want in on this?” Kevin said, gesturing towards Nat who was now singing into a spatula while caressing the pack of bacon strips.

“The serenade or the breakfast?”

“Breakfast of course. Pretty sure that the serenade is against the Geneva Convention or the Nuremburg Code or something like that.”

Edd just giggled behind his hand and nodded.

“Yo! Nat! Make extra for Edd here!”

Nat spun around and faced them with a giant grin on his face. “Coming right up!” Nat quickly started rummaging around in the freezer, this time singing showtunes.

While Nat was making everyone breakfast, Kevin asked Edd about his schedule and his upcoming plans for the week. As Edd was making it down his mental calendar, he mentioned that he was going to stop going to Graphic Novel Book Club. He felt like the readings for that particular book club were becoming quite the chore, and by dropping it, he could also have more open weekends to do other stuff.

Before Kevin could inquire about the “other stuff” Edd was trying to do, Nat announce that breakfast was served, as he slapped down a baking sheet on top of an extra oven mitt on the kitchen bar. Kevin and Edd both got up and went into the Kitchen to join Nat, who was already loading up a plate. When Kevin got into the kitchen, he froze for a moment, analyzing the food.

“Hey Nat, did you cook all the waffles we had?”

“Yup!”

“And all the turkey bacon?”

“Naturally! This shit’s sooo good!” Nat managed to say before his mouth was too full of turkey bacon strips.

Kevin decided to ignore Nat’s awkward moaning in favor of figuring out this breakfast menu. “But you only used one egg to make scrambled eggs for three people?”

“No. I used two. Is something wrong?”

Kevin just shook his head. “Nope. Nothing at all. But you’re going to be so mad at yourself later.”

Nat just shrugged and started eating a strip of turkey bacon soaked in maple syrup.

After breakfast, Nat went straight to bed, stumbling the whole way while thanking Kevin for “being such a good wife.” Kevin just rolled his eyes as he continued to put the dirty dishes in the sink and pack away the leftover food.

As Kevin was playing Tetris with all of Nat’s Tupperware in the fridge, he asked Edd, “Do you need to go home soon?”

“I suppose not, though I do need to shower at some point before I go to work at 1 o’clock.”

“Cool… Want to finish watching _Logan_?”

“Sure! But I must warn you, I only remember the first ten minutes or so.”

Kevin laughed. “We can just start it over then. I have no problem with that.”

They resumed their position on the couch and restarted the movie. At a particularly dramatic scene, Edd scooted closer. At the extremely sad scene that had Edd choked up, Kevin put his arm around Edd. However, something inside Kevin was making him hesitate on asking him out. _Fucking nerves_.

After the movie, Kevin drove Edd home. He walked him into the dorm and up to his room to continue their previous conversation about the movie. At Edd’s door, Kevin kept inching closer to Edd, making Edd stutter and forget what he was saying about the final fight scene. Kevin placed a hand on Edd’s arm and started leaning in very slowly, only stopping when his phone started ringing. Kevin sighed and threw his head back before taking two steps back from Edd and pulling out his phone. He groaned when he saw who was calling.

“What is it, Nat?... No… No, I swear… I didn’t! You did!...” Kevin gave Edd a pained look, who was now turned around slightly and unlocking his dorm room door. “Yes, you did! You made breakfast for us and Edd and for _some reason_ you though that you needed to cook all of the-”

Kevin suddenly grimaced and pulled the phone away from his face as Nat shouted, “WHY DID YOU LET ME DO THAT?”

Kevin sighed as Edd mouthed “I need to go shower,” as he pointed to his dorm room.

Kevin nodded in acknowledgment, still holding the phone away from his face as Nat continued to rant quite loudly. Edd started to turn towards his room when Kevin suddenly grabbed him by his arm and pulled him into a hug. When Edd hugged him back, Kevin kissed him on the top of his head and said, “See you around, dork.”

Kevin then started walking back towards the stairs as he put the phone back to his face, saying, “Nat, chill, it’s not like you won’t eat it all before the weekend’s over.”

He looked back and saw Edd still standing in his doorway, blushing fiercely. He grinned to himself and practically skipped down the rest of the hall.


	9. For You? Yes.

The following Saturday was the last Saturday in October, and Kevin was enjoying his extra time since he didn’t have a game that weekend. After sleeping in, Kevin finished the paper he started earlier that week. Then he checked his agenda to see if he could afford to have a little fun, and by fun he means bothering Edd while he’s working.

He notices the “graphic novel book club” note that’s scribbled into that day’s date and thought about it for a moment. At first, he struggles to remember which graphic novel they’re discussing, then feels absolutely stupid when he remembers.

_It’s that memoir comic that I really like, the one that got me into memoirs in the first place. How the hell did I manage to forget that!? I even re-read it last Sunday after I dropped Edd off… heh. He was so fucking adorable, frozen in his doorway like that… oh, yeah, the book club… ugh… I do like the comic, but Edd won’t be there… All motivation to go just left…_

He kept trying to convince himself to go, to lie to himself that it was always about the books and not Edd, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Edd and last weekend.

_Shit. Fine. It was both. Both Edd and the chance to talk about books I like with other people. At least for some of the book clubs I joined… Close enough…_

Kevin then decided to shelve the problem for now and go workout. However, he cut his workout short when he realized that he was too distracted, and it could possibly cause him to get hurt. He stretched, cooled down, and headed back home.

The moment he made it back to his apartment, he jumped straight into the shower and allowed himself to process the current problem: Seeing Edd. It didn’t take long for him to realize that book club wasn’t worth it if Edd wasn’t there, and that he’s been dragging his feet for far too long with the excuse of waiting for a good time. Finally, Kevin decided on a much better plan of action that book club.

As soon as Kevin gets out of the shower and dries off, he sends a text asking Edd if he’s still at work. He gets dressed after struggling to pick out clothes for a few minutes. He checks his phone and sees that Edd still hasn’t replied. He paces in his room for a minute, until his phone chimes. He lunges for it, nearly faceplanting into the desk.

 _Edd_ : Yes. Just finished my shift. I’m going to be doing homework on the terrace now since it’s such a lovely day. Why do you ask?

Kevin doesn’t reply. Instead he just pockets the phone and grabs his keys, wallet, helmet, and leather jacket. After double checking that he had everything, he heads out for the bookstore.

Once there, Kevin rushes inside and half-waves at Emma at the register when she says hello. He tries not to run through the store, instead doing an awkwardly rushed walk. He sprints through the last room and takes two steps at a time up the stairs. He accidentally slams open the terrace door, causing Edd to jump and stare in his direction. His look of horror quickly turned into delight. “Kevin! Good to see you!”

Kevin sheepishly closes the door gently behind him before replying. “Hey, Edd.”

“To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?” Edd asked as Kevin started making his way to Edd’s table.

“Well… I have a question for ya.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Kevin took a seat across from Edd. “Um, I was hoping that maybe if you’re free… that I could see you tonight… I mean, like… if you-”

“Tonight? What’s tonight?” Edd leans forward, looking at his opened agenda across the table. “Oh! The graphic novel book club! I’m sorry Kevin, I dropped that one. I should have told you-”

“Oh, no, no, no! You did!”

“Oh…”

“Yeah… I meant if you’re free tonight, since you aren’t doing that book club anymore… would you… possibly…” Kevin paused and started rubbing the back of his neck, clearly trying to gather his thoughts and get over his nerves.

“Oh, you wanted to hang out?” Edd asked, frowning at something in his agenda.

Kevin sighed heavily. “No, Edd… not quite… I was actually hoping you’d go on a date with me,” Kevin then glanced down at Edd’s agenda, trying to read what was written for that day, though it was upside-down to him. “That is, if you’re not completely booked today.”

Edd stared at him with his jaw dropped. He started to get flushed and was fumbling on his words until he was finally able to squeak out, “A-a-are you s-serious!?”

Kevin chuckled and looked back up at Edd, smiling softly. “Very serious. So, are you free this evening?”

Edd reached over and snatched his agenda up, slapping it down on the notebook in front of him. He reached for his eraser, accidentally knocking it off the table. Kevin held back his laughter as he watched Edd fumbling to pick it up off the ground and then almost falling as he tried to sit upright again. Edd then hastily erased something in his agenda. When he was satisfied with his work, he looked back up at Kevin with a wide, gap-toothed grin.

“I’m quite free this evening.”

The End.


End file.
